Click Here to Start (A Novel)
By Dennis Markell
ISBN 978-1-101-93187-5
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Scott
Review: 
Wild adventures abound for Ted, Caleb and Isabel as they are literally taken from the realm of video games and laptops and tossed into a reality game that has far greater consequences – if they fail. there are no extra lives or ‘reboots’. Click Here to Start (A Novel) , Dennis Markell’s inaugural book, is a tween novel which delightfully plays at young readers delights in problem solving in the form of a video game set up. Based off of ‘Escape the Room’ puzzlers (often known as Hidden Object Games or simply HOG’s), in which the player attempts to piece together the puzzle parts in order to get out of a locked room (or warehouse, or whatnot) and on to the next stage of the quest. Tweens will delight in reading some of the clue finding and problem solving mechanisms that go into this book (if they aren’t a fan of HOG’s to begin with). A mystery at heart, Click Here To Start (A Novel) both gets you ready to start the novel, and start the journey toward the final climatic ending.
Plot-wise, Click Here to Start (A Novel) is delightful pockets of puzzles that act as catalysts to one another and create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Markell has this all under control. The puzzles do seem to come out of nowhere and engross the reader into finding out just what could possibly happen next; therein lies the strength of the novel – cohesive units that break down the story into smaller arcs and make the reading more digestible for a younger audience. The pacing slows down at these parts, and gives you a chance to think about what you have just read. The clues and their ever spiraling out of the woodwork consequences are not trivial by any shape or form and require the three young children to overcome their differences so the final mystery can be revealed.
With the protagonists we have Ted, a computer game whiz who solves ‘Escape the Room’ puzzles like wildfire; Isabel, a newly transferred student who is a font of knowledge; and Caleb, the resident artist and co-gamer with Ted. The characters are filled out as much as you would expect in a short novel, and sometimes motive is unclear, breaking the otherwise stereotypical nature of the characters. You don’t miss this, however looking at it through younger eyes – in which the characters are larger than life and caricatures like the superheroes Caleb draws. That being said, there is nothing flawed about the manner in which the characters are presented. They are just placeholders of the young imagination, characters that can be filled in by the young ego reading the novel. Again, with this in mind, Deus ex Machina in used quite frequently.
The use of two-dimensional characters helps the writing of this book immensely. Written in a tight ‘deadline’ (until the next puzzle’s solved) style, but with loose, easy flowing narrative, the writing has to be the highlight of the book. It isn’t flowery, it suits the ‘characters’ and connects the mini-mysteries. If only to give the mystery out of a hat (especially at the end), the story remains light and adventurous. There are no words that (unless purposefully) are above the age of Markell’s target audience. And with the words he does use he creates a vignette of ever increasing exotic happenstance. This is most definitely a book geared toward the tweens and the attention paid to the attention span and innate curiosity well.
Overall, Click Here to Start (A Novel) by Dennis Markell, is a good book for the tweens who are into reading (a given), computer games (notably Hidden Object Games), problem solving, logic, mystery, and you have the target audience for the novel. It is a light read that is perfect for a rainy day or that much needed summer break. Markell has made an intriguing debut with his first novel and it will be interesting to see what he comes up with next.
